Governor Chris Christie Visits AeroFarms

On Thursday, March 24th, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie came to our Newark farm to celebrate our success in creating local jobs and contributing to positive employment trends in the state. The Governor met with AeroFarms leadership and tasted some of our greens before a short speech and press conference on our growing floor.

Here’s what the Governor had to say about AeroFarms:

“Thank you for what you all are doing here. It’s pretty extraordinary stuff! AeroFarms could have located its global headquarters and its R&D center in any other state, but they chose to create the world’s largest Aeroponic farm right here in  Newark, New Jersey. This $25 million redevelopment project was approved for a $6.5 million Grow New Jersey Award and a $2.2 million ERG (Economic Redevelopment and Growth) grant. [It will create] 69 new jobs but also,  two million pounds of produce per year. Two million pounds! Equally important, the project  brings critical capital investment of another $19.2 million right here in the city of Newark, and in the Ironbound.”

 

Governor Christie met many of our team members and remarked on the delicious flavor of our arugula. Of our team and our greens, Governor Christie said:

“The best part of all this is the smiling faces of the employees I saw when I walked in here. They love working here. They have a job that provides them a good salary and good benefits, provides for their families, and allows them to feel really good about coming to work everyday. That changes families…. By the way I ate some of the arugula grown here – really good! It tastes fabulous, no dressing necessary.”